Wednesday, November 22, 2017

The Rubber Hits The Road



The Trudeau government is very good when it comes to making promises. But, when it comes to delivering on them, their expertise is questionable. That's the message behind the week's Auditor General's Report. Susan Delacourt writes:

Ferguson’s devastating report has described a government that can’t even pay its public servants properly or figure out how to provide results-based service to citizens on one of the most basic aspects of government: taxation. “Check against deliverology” would be a good alternative title for this latest report — especially the parts about the Phoenix payroll debacle and the Canada Revenue Agency’s dismal treatment of taxpayers. 
According to the AG’s report, only a little more than one-third of the calls placed to Canada Revenue Agency were answered, either by a live agent or by an automated service. Worse, in nearly one-third of those calls, the information relayed by CRA to taxpayers was incorrect. One-third of the calls.

You can bet that the opposition will zero in on this information, comparing it to the rosy "mandate tracker" which the Liberals have been trumpeting.

Every government is ultimately judged on the distance between its rhetoric and its performance. Mr. Trudeau is a gifted salesman. But he's going to have to brush up on his management skills.

Image: promisekeepers.ca

14 comments:

rumleyfips said...

Has anyone said anything about asking Australia for help ? I haven't seen anything about this.

Has IBM been removed from the approved contractor list ? I haven't seen anything about this either.

Since the programme was initiated 7 years ago by the cons , they may be wary of blowback.

Steve said...

its 2017 no one expects politicians to follow through on promises unless they were bought and paid for. I give this gov a B, management like Chretien with a sprinkling of real change.

Anonymous said...

Why are you using the logo of a patriarchal evangelical group?

Cap

Toby said...

It's not just Trudeau. His Cabinet is filled with featherweights. The only ones with any competency seem to be Goodale and Freeland. The rest really are in over their heads. Goodale is the only one with any experience and that may be the problem. It takes time to learn the ropes and Trudeau's bunch got promoted way too fast. I suspect that Trudeau is surrounded by people who really didn't expect to be elected.

As to the payroll problem, heads should roll. The contract with IBM should be cancelled. The Minister in charge should be moved to the farthest back bench.

Of course, Trudeau is supposed to be in charge. Leadership is about more than smiling for the cameras.

Question: Has Trudeau left Harper's Deputy Ministers in place? Is Harper's hand still on the tiller?

Owen Gray said...

It's interesting that the Australians encountered the same kind of problems, rumley. And you have to wonder if or why the Liberals haven't done some of the things you have suggested.

Owen Gray said...

Despite its failings, I give the Trudeau government better grades than the Harper government, Steve. But if the Liberals continue to talk a good game and not deliver on their promises, the cynicism they create will result in their defeat.

Owen Gray said...

Good question, Cap. I knew that might cause some controversy. I intended no religious allusions. But, strictly on a literal level, the logo seemed to fit.

Owen Gray said...

Good question, Toby. And I don't have the slightest idea what the answer to that question is.

The Mound of Sound said...


It is turning into the 'gang that couldn't shoot straight.' I'm willing to assume that JT came to his premiership well intentioned but really had no understanding of the weight of his promises or how to go about honouring them.

When the going gets tough, Junior apologizes and then folds. Electoral reform is a big issue but not a huge issue and he couldn't handle that. The really big issues, such as climate change, are so far beyond his reach that we'll get nowhere in dealing with them.

Two years in and the government still can't pay our public service. The cost of overhauling this failed payroll system is now estimated at half a billion dollars. It's a joke. Do try getting through to the CRA. I have several times. I've been put through this ordeal of choosing this option or that and going through this advisory or that and then, finally, I'm told that there's no chance I'll be put through so try again. And then the call is disconnected. Simply try to get documents you can download and the software is down.

This government is its own worst peril. It's not the Conservatives or the New Dems. It's the Liberal government's unparalleled incompetence. We got the son who is all Margaret and no Pierre. He rode to power on his name and his looks, an accident of birth. And yet the Canadian public still seem to support this prime ministerial dud.

Owen Gray said...

Call me a fool, Mound, but I keep hoping he'll understand more as he goes on. But then the AG reminds me that there's so much he doesn't understand.

Anonymous said...

Funny that the main contractor IBM never seems to be criticized for the Phoenix system. On other boards I inhabit, American IT types talk about how IBM uses a lot of incompetent contractors from the Chennai area of India. They're utterly useless with zero experience and never visit job sites just working over the internet, but are cheap, and couldn't design a system if they tried. IBM also hires undertrained cheap engineers on the H1B visa system in the US itself, laying off regular Americans. So management just becomes adept at inventing unforeseen problems, dragging out contracts and making money. As I recall, our banks like to hire inexpensive Temp Foreign workers for their IT systems, getting regular staff to train them before they get booted themselves to find another job. Just big business maximizing profit at everyone's expense but their own.

Don't know the truth of the US situation, but come on, Phoenix is just a payroll system, not the design of a nuclear power plant, and a bllion dollars handed to some obsolete Yankee computer company for a $200 million job is beyond belief.

BM

Owen Gray said...

A good point, BM. I suspect a lot of people think that Phoenix was an in-house job. After all, the government used to hire their own IT personnel in all kinds of departments. Now, instead of developing their own software, they buy it off the shelf.

Steve said...

Its a catch 22. Develop it yourself and you own it forever. Buy off the shelf and pay for upgrades forever. I would like to see big projects like this handed out to universities.

One of my favorite ideas is goverment in a box. A software program that reduces all the transaction costs has all the transparency and is bullshit proof. This is the best gift we could give to ourselves and the world.

Owen Gray said...

Sounds nifty, Steve. But I suspect stuffing all of government into one box is an impossible task.